K
night Times March 9, 2017 • Volume 8 • Issue 3 • Warner Pacific College
IN THIS ISSUE: • Homeless While in College • How to Spot Fake News • Accessing Healthcare • • Drama Production: Nickel and Dimed • Retaining Student-Athletes •
Kneeling for Injustice Photo by Celeste Jackson
Warner Pacific athletes are taking a knee to stand up for their beliefs By Bryce White
“Good game, Bryce.” “Thanks Mom. I would hug you but I am a little sweaty.” “It’s okay, but what was all of those shenanigans before the game?” “What do you mean?” “Half of you were kneeling, and half of you were standing. Aren’t you guys supposed to be standing for the flag or at least all doing one thing?” “Well, some were standing, and some were kneeling.” “Why were you guys kneeling?”
A
s we live in the social media era, we often focus on Colin Kaepernick as the first athlete to protest the national anthem by kneeling rather than standing. However, there is a longer tradition; in 1968, Olympic bronze medalist winner Tommie Smith stood up for his beliefs by raising his right hand in the air with a balled fist as a symbol for black solidarity. Both Kaepernick and Smith are considered activists for using their platform as professional athletes to protest injustice against the black community. “I love America. I love people. That’s why I’m doing this. I want to help make America bet-
2
March 9, 2017
ter,” Kaepernick said. If his intent is to make America a better place, a place that creates equality and unity among all races, why is he receiving mass negative criticism? When people see athletes such as Kaepernick, Smith, and Warner Pacific Men’s basketball players such as myself protesting for their beliefs, they often perceive us as disrespecting the flag. For me, kneeling is not directed towards the flag, it is directed towards the injustice that is currently happening across the nation and in my own neighborhood. “The dominant group wants you to protest, but they want you to protest their way, or in a way that doesn’t make others uncomfortable,” said Hakeem Bradley, student athlete and activist at Warner Pacific. “My job is to protest until they are so uncomfortable that it will foster change.” Kneeling is more than a stance. It is not right for me to stand and support a song that was written by a former slave owner. Every time I kneel, I feel that it is more than just kneeling. I know that I am connected with my brothers and that I am supporting the loss of all the individuals who have been murdered in cold blood by police officers, men like Mike Brown, Eric Garner, and Quanice Hayes, who was shot Feb. 9, 2017 just a few blocks from my mother’s previous residence. What I want people to know is that this stance is not about disrespect or anything regarding those who fought for our nation. I have the utmost respect for Vol. 8, Issue 3
each and every individual who has risked their life to fight for our country. But by the same token, I feel that we are currently at war for our safety and security as African Americans and that this stance is providing a voice as well as a movement to foster change and equality in America. I want people to gain more knowledge on our stance and understand that African Americans are living in fear. People are blind to the facts: most people see Brown, Garner, and Hayes as names, but they were men who had families and who lost their lives due to the injustice that African Americans have been dealing with for a very long time. We, as African Americans, acknowledge that “this will forever be a fight,” as Bradley says, but I will continue to fight for change with the support of others. Given the media attention on Kaepernick, the men’s basketball team met prior to the season with Vice President of Academic Affairs Reggie Nichols, Head Golf Coach and activist Quincy Heard, and Head Coach of the men’s basketball team, Jared Valentine. During the discussion, there was a collective agreement that some athletes would kneel and some would stand. This dialogue shed light on the situation and the pro’s and con’s of kneeling as activism. With safety of the players as a high priority, the men’s basketball team was advised to be careful in what situations we should or should not kneel. The actions of Warner Pacific players kneeling during the national anthem and the dialogue around that protest has gained the attention of the college president, other programs in the NAIA, and many community members—which was our intent. Although some athletes on the Warner Pacific men’s basketball team have decided to stand, that does not mean they are not supporting the movement. Freshman Luke Moody stands with pride and respect for the flag. For Moody, it is more than just standing. “I am standing to support the troops that fought for my right to decide whether or not to kneel,” Moody said. “I am a Christian before I am an American, and being connected to my brothers is important to me.” The support that Moody and others who share his view is important, for it provides African Americans an ally and shows that there is a huge problem occurring. Although African Americans are a community that is connected by their struggles and history, other groups are pushing for equality with our perspectives in mind “We need more than one [group protesting],” said Adam Westfal, an activist as well as a member of Warner Pacific’s men’s basketball team. Westfal, who is a Caucasian male, wants to “continue to fight the flag, because it represents the ugly truth of how this country was founded and how many whites choose to ignore that truth because it’s an easier route than admitting there is a problem.” More and more people like Westfal are understanding our perspective, and if more people decide to look through this lens, then we have a chance to fight, to grow, and to be seen as equals. Some environments may be considered an unsafe location for members of the team to protest. Entering an historically racial environment Knight Times
and kneeling during the anthem may be more dangerous than protesting at a home game. However, at a recent away game, Westfal decided to disregard Coach Valentine’s instructions and proceeded to kneel during the anthem. “I was told it was a privilege to kneel, and although I was not comfortable with kneeling, I attempted to do so anyway,” he said. “I was angry that someone told me I couldn’t kneel. I knew I had to at least try because this was the moment I was going to make a difference, a documented difference that could change the lives of others.” Consequences came immediately after his moment of activism; he took off his jersey and sat in the stands during the game. “I am okay with sacrificing a game in my senior season, but I am not okay sacrificing my perspective and my fight for others’ perspectives,” Westfal said. As the season comes to an end, we know that we have created an authentic voice for the African American community at Warner Pacific. Now it is time to further our voice to create a better community on a larger scale. As a senior, I have other plans that will push me away from the men’s basketball team, but I will continue to volunteer at organizations and continue to fight for equality. Along with Westfal, I have high hopes that this trend will continue next year and beyond. There has been a lot of on campus discussion about injustice, and plans are in the making for the men’s basketball team, such as volunteering at OPAL, which shares similar goals to work for environmental justice and civil rights in our communities (www.opalpdx.org/about/). We need people to understand why we are activists, and answering my mother’s question was vital in her grasping our intent with this movement. “Mom, we kneel so people will ask us why.” “So why?” “For me it’s for the injustice we go through. For my other teammates, you’ll just have to ask them yourself.” If you are willing to ask, we are ready to answer. I encourage people to go create a dialogue about our activism on campus so there can be less confusion and more understanding. Now that we are in a conversation, we have the ability to push others to address the problems of injustice. The men’s basketball team dramatizes that dialogue, some kneeling, some standing, but continuing to talk with one another.
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.” -Martin Luther King Jr. Warner Pacific College
3
Homework Is Hard Without A Home:
The reality of higher education for homeless students By Celeste Jackson
Upon request, the name of the student interviewed in this story has been changed to protect their privacy. ollege students’ to-do list: study for calculus, register for next semesters classes and buy books, try to find a place to stay and a hot meal for tonight. For sophomore Erik Martin, this is a common routine. Constantly short of money, and paying tuition with a loan and small scholarships, Martin has been homeless since August. “During the summer I was on a lease for an apartment, but once school started, I was no longer able to afford rent because I had to pay for books and tuition,” Martin said.
Although this seems like an unrealistic situation for a college student, Martin is not alone. According to Barbara Duffield, policy director of the National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth, “there’s no concrete estimate for the number of homeless college students nationwide, but 58,158 college applicants indicated that they were homeless on federal financial aid forms for the 2012-13 academic year -- up 8% from 53,705 in the previous year, according to federal data obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request. That number is likely understated, however, since some people may be staying in a car or motel and don’t realize they are technically homeless, or don’t want to admit to it.”
When first evicted from his apartment, Martin began living with a friend in the college apartments, but was soon asked to leave. Since then, he has been sleeping on different couches every night, or staying with friends for short periods of time. Homelessness has begun to show itself in many different ways on college campuses. While some students are living on the street, others may be using a car as their home. Like Martin, many students may be “couch surfing,” or spending a night or two in various living spaces with friends or family. Some students may have temporary living spaces for the majority of the academic year, but don’t have anywhere to go during the holidays and summer breaks.
These statistics could be incomplete due to the federal government’s definition of homeless and because there is no required tracking of individual students. According to the Stewart B. McKinney Act of 1994, a person is considered homeless when they “lack a fixed, regular, and adequate night-time residence; and…has a primary night time residency that is: (A) a supervised publicly or privately operated shelter to provide temporary living accommodations…(B) an institution for those in need of being institutionalized, or (C) a public or private place not designed for a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings.” The education subsection to the McKinney-Vento Act includes a more comprehensive definition of homelessness.
C
Unfortunately, even these in-depth definitions still leave out a large population of homeless people. The McKinney-Vento Act makes it very clear that a person living in substandard housing or with relatives is not considered “homeless” and cannot receive eligible services. Indeed, those homeless people who do not have access to homeless shelters or transitional housing services are more likely to live in substandard housing or with relatives and friends. We might consider them homeless, but according the definition, they are not. For many homeless college students, this is a huge concern. Not being deemed homeless by the government means they cannot receive additional financial aid from the government through the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid). For first time freshman college students, financial aid officers must verify if a student was homeless in high school. If they weren’t, they may not be entitled to additional finanLeft: Students sleeping in a college library. Photo by Benjamin Stone. Top Right: A young homeless man in Washington D.C. Photo by Elvert Barnes.
4
March 9, 2017
Vol. 8, Issue 3
decided to set up emergency housing for students by setting aside low cost housing units on campus for homeless students. Lack of shelter is not the only problem homeless students face. These students may be getting inadequate sleep. Without a consistent place to sleep and inconsistent sleeping patterns, numerous other problems may begin to arise. Lack of sleep brings mental and physical exhaustion, weakness, and potentially illness. Besides not being able to afford housing, many college students cannot afford to feed themselves properly. Students often get meals from friends, skip meals, and some even beg on the streets. “I was lucky enough to receive eligibility for food stamps, but even then buying food on a consistent basis is still difficult,” Martin said.
cial aid for college due to homelessness. For these reasons, some students might end up in a bureaucratic nightmare. Currently, Warner Pacific does not have a written policy for students who are considered homeless, but instead follows procedures that pertain to federal student aid. “If a student approaches me saying they need additional funding because of a lack of housing, I ask them a series of questions that will help determine if they can receive additional federal aid,” said Cindy Pollard, Director of Student Financial Services and Financial Aid. Even if a student does qualify for additional funding, it does not guarantee the student enough money to live on campus or enough for off campus housing, Pollard explained. Asking students to justify their homelessness or explain in detail their situation so they can receive additional aid may cause them to feel ashamed, and discourages many from continuing the verification process. It may even cause them to give up pursuing a higher education. There has to be a verification process though, or else any person could claim homelessness to try to get additional money. There also has to be justification to their homelessness. “If a student is choosing to be homeless, an example being they don’t want to live at home because they want to be independent, then they are technically not homeless,” Pollard explained. “If a student cannot live at home due to unsafe living conditions and has nowhere else to turn to, that’s where financial aid can step in, but at the same time the college is not a social service and can only do so much,” Pollard said. Jon Sampson, Dean of Students, said that their policy is to work with the student, giving them time to move out, and directing them to work with Student Financial Services to determine their options. To outsiders, the problem may seem easily solved. Common thinking is, if a student can’t afford housing or find a place to stay, they can just stay at a homeless shelter and get meals from food banks. For some homeless students, this is a last resort, and a shameful choice. “I don’t think I would ever stay at a homeless shelter. Not only would it be inconvenient to try to find transportation to and from, [but]many of them seem unsafe and unsanitary,” Martin said. “I’d rather couch surf, even if I don’t know where I’m staying the next night. At least I know I’m safe.” Fortunately, the federal government is aware of the growing problem, and is working on potential solutions. According to the Every Student Succeeds Act, signed by President Obama, school counselors for both high school and college institutions are required to ensure homeless youth are advised and prepared for college. It also requires that liaisons tell students about the requirements and information for financial aid, and inform students that they can get help obtaining verification of homelessness. Last year, Oregon State University Knight Times
Many colleges are doing what they can to help homeless students. Fortunately, most financial aid provided directly from Warner Pacific (not federal aid through FAFSA) does not require verification of homelessness status. Most scholarships handed out by the college do not require verification of where the student lives. Cindy Pollard said that the SFS staff had met earlier this year with a student in a similar situation to Martin’s and had worked out a payment plan for on-campus housing. She does not know if this is the student interviewed in this story; if not, Martin should meet with her to discuss his options. If you are a homeless student at Warner Pacific in need of help to find housing, see the financial aid office or talk with your academic advisor. Student care and support concerns may also be reported online at bit.y/wpcreport.
Ways to Get Involved The National Student Campaign Against Hunger and Homelessness is an amazing resource that works with college students around the country to end hunger and homelessness. Their website is http://www.studentsagainsthunger.org and they have additional resources on the site to use for programming. See also http://www.endhomelessness.org/ or http://wihopelab. com/publications/Wisconsin_hope_lab_hungry_to_learn.pdf
Getting Involved on Campus: 1. Organize a clothing drive and donate the items to a local shelter. 2. Write your congressman or representative and urge them to support legislation that will benefit homeless people. If you are in the Washington, DC area set up an appointment with a staffer in the congressional office and discusses the issues surrounding homelessness and poverty. 3. Volunteer with a local shelter or food bank 4. Get connected to a coalition. Visit NCH’s directory of organizations at http://www.nationalhomeless.org/resources/ natdirect.html 5. Participate in a Homeless Challenge—spend 24 or 48 hours on the streets with homeless guides and learn about the challenges of being homeless first-hand. Call the National Coalition for the Homeless for more information at (202)462-4822. To see more facts on homelessness, please visit https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/sites/default/files/homeless-youth.pdf. Warner Pacific College
5
Work, Study, Play, Win
Retaining student-athletes By Micaela Bitanga athletes could be doing other things that benefit them. Athletes feel as if there is not enough time in the day. Many days all they want to do is catch up on sleep, yet they find a way to make it all work even with so much on their plates. Despite all of these commitments and challenges, retention rates for Warner Pacific athletes have been strengthening. According to Aundrea Snitker, Director of Assessment and Institutional Research, the retention rates for first-time freshmen cohorts show that athletes and non-athletes have exchanged positions. In 2013, non-athletes had a stronger retention rate from the freshmen to sophomore year, but since then that statistic has flipped. In 2015, student-athletes continued into their sophomore year at a rate of 74% (see sidebar). Retention efforts for athletes rely on the communication between the coaches, assistant athletic directors, and Kimberly Love, Retention and Student Success Manager. Most studentathletes are successful because coaches ensure that the athletes who are struggling get the attention that is needed: tutors, advising, mentors, study hall, and other support. Coaches are very alert when it comes to their athletes. There are occasional grade checks for each student-athlete. The women’s basketball team receives attendance sheets every week, and must get signatures from each professor each class period and turn these in every Thursday. If any one player does not get the sheet signed, the entire team runs for them, and that specific player does not participate in practice and/or upcoming games. This is where accountability comes in between teammates.
S
tudent-athletes are extremely busy people. College is already an overwhelming and stressful experience; imagine being a studentathlete and having to keep up with a sport on top of academics. This lifestyle includes having to balance out schoolwork, the sport, jobs, and other outside activities. Constantly having to meet deadlines is both mentally and physically draining. Playing a sport in college is basically a full-time job, and it is very time consuming. Some athletes receive scholarship money to play a sport, attend school, and get good grades. There are also other athletes who are walk-ons and receive no scholarship money. This means they commit much of their time and effort to their sport when these
6
March 9, 2017
Matt Gregg, head coach of Warner Pacific women’s basketball team and Assistant Athletic Director explained how there is a set GPA all student-athletes must meet and if one falls below, they are unable to compete the next semester. For this reason, study hall times are set up for students who have GPA’s lower than a 2.0. Each of them must attend two hours of monitored study hall per week. “My biggest wish and goal for my team has always been to graduate,” Gregg said. “I love being successful on the court, but most importantly in the classroom. Basketball will come to an end, but education has the biggest place here.” Usually athletes have two or three options to choose from: getting enough sleep, being healthy and eating right, or catching up on homework. Not getting enough sleep or eating well affects their performance on the field/mat/court. Vol. 8, Issue 3
If they don’t do their homework, then they fall behind in class and it puts them in a sticky situation of being ineligible to play and having to fight their way back out of the huge hole they’ve dug themselves into. Athletes have to find time during the day to do any of the three requirements, and choose one of them to cut down on. In the end, it’s all about priorities and sacrifice. Student-athletes must learn to become resourceful and successful students. Their strategies for creating good habits and developing useful skills could serve as a model for other college students. They must plan ahead and know what is expected week by week for each class, instead of doing the work the night before. Like all students, athletes must learn to manage their time, feelings, and surroundings. Athletes need to manage their time so that the most important things are completed first. They must learn to decline any outside activities that don’t benefit them. Athletes must get up to seven to eight hours of sleep a night so that their minds are able to function correctly throughout the day. They must manage their feelings so that nothing is interfering with their performance. This affects their work ethic even if they don’t realize it. Athletes need to be fully focused on the game or match, even before a huge test. Lastly, athletes must manage surroundings. That means working in a place where it is quiet and there are no distractions, setting phones aside and avoiding social media of any kind. Most importantly, having accountable and fun friends or teammates to depend on is always a good way to be surrounded by positivity. Like all college students, athletes should be persistent, fully committed, and determined to complete tasks. They must engage with professors, tutors and other students and be open to feedback and criticism. Athletes know they must learn from experience and previous mistakes. They must be able to visualize success and have the motivation to push themselves. Athletes have learned to view setbacks as a learning experience so that they know what to do differently and what to do better. Sophomore Bailey Allen is currently on the women’s basketball team and is an Knight Times
exercise science major. She also works for Gresham Therapeutic Associates Physical Therapy three times a week and hopes to become a physical therapist one day. When asked how she personally manages her time so well, Allen responded that she had a hard time last semester but is doing a lot better now. “Luckily my work has a more relaxed environment so I can study and do homework there when I have down time. I try to start things ahead of time so if I have questions I can ask before it’s due to get a better understanding of the material,” she said. Allen likes to prioritize her time so she gets the most important things done first, even if they are more difficult, and makes a list of scheduled due dates so she knows what needs to get done and by when. Like anybody else, she does not like being stressed out, so she always tries to make the best of her time. Allen’s goal this semester is to turn everything in on time and have it done with her best effort. Although athletes like Allen can serve as a model for college success, retention efforts on campus are designed to help all students, not just student-athletes. “Retention takes a village,” said Kimberly Love, who plays a key role in helping students become successful and making them feel welcomed and supported. Everyone on campus has a hand in retention, she said: the Student Support Network, Academic Support Team, Counseling Center, Student Affairs, Records Office, Financial Aid, and even peer mentors and resident assistants. When a student is struggling, that student and Love will meet and discuss the issues and try to figure out how to resolve them, whether academic, financial or personal, such as dealing with grief, loss, or health problems. Love said she must earn and build trust with her students and keep everything completely private and confidential. The three main efforts of retention are “communicate, encourage, and support.” “With retention, the biggest problem is when we as the faculty and staff are reaching out to those in need of help and they do not accept or want the help,” Love said. No one should take these campus resources for granted. Don’t be afraid to connect with Kimberly Love with any questions or concerns; she can connect you with other campus resources: klove@warnerpacific.edu.
Retention Rate by First-Time Freshmen Cohort
Athletes
Fall 2013
Fall 2014
Fall 2015
Non-Athletes
Fall 2013
Fall 2014
Fall 2015
Photo and Graphics by Sam Basarab.
Warner Pacific College
7
Nickel and Dimed
The Starving Wage By Tarale Wolffe
“T
here is nothing funny about not getting by in this country,” said Robin Gordon, drama department chair and director of Nickel and Dimed, during the first week of rehearsals. She was sharing her vision of the project with the actors and production team, who were coming to terms with the fact that such an important subject is treated so comically in the play. “But there is,” Gordon continued, “something absurd about the fact that some of the hardest working people in this country are paid the least for their work.” As she spoke, everyone listened with rapt attention, all intent on doing justice to both the play and the topic it encompasses. Nickel and Dimed, by Joan Holden, is a fast paced, almost absurd, comedy about a dramatic and dire situation: how people are surviving on the national minimum wage. Short answer: they’re not. The minimum wage is the lowest amount any employer can pay a worker. Supposedly, this minimum is enough for a person to live on, if working a full time job. The national minimum wage is $7.25, the same it was over 20 years ago. Oregon’s minimum wage is $9.75, and even for someone working full time, that adds up to less than $1600 a month, before taxes--which can subtract almost $200 from that amount. According to Apartmenthomeliving.com, a studio apartment in Portland, Oregon starts at $660 a month. If you want an actual bedroom, the prices start at $670, but quickly rise to over $700. Add to it food (which, according to the Economic Policy Institute, comes out to about $270 per person), transportation, either car or bus, phone, utilities, and ‘other necessities’ the monthly budget is estimated at $2500 for just one person with no child.
about the practice of withholding pay when Barbara works at “Mall-mart.” As a matter of policy, the employer withholds her first paycheck. Barbara suspects it’s because by the time workers actually get paid, they’ll be too tired to make a break for it. At her first job, Barbara learns the ins and outs of waitressing. Through her, the audience learns that the government assumes that servers live on tips. As such, restaurants are only required to make up the difference between their estimated tips and minimum wage. In Florida, Barbara works for $2.15/hour. That means servers are expected to make $5.10 an hour in tips just to equal the minimum wage. At this rate, every table counts, and when someone refuses to tip, for whatever reason, customers are not just refusing their server a benefit. They’re refusing to pay them their salary. Despite the ‘tip’ label, servers don’t see it as an additional monetary increase. It’s a necessity that could mean the difference between putting food on their table or going hungry. For those supporting more than one person, or even children, expenses quickly add up, and
With such disparities between what workers are being paid, and what they have to pay, how does the American working class manage to survive? It’s exactly this question that Barbara Ehrenreich, investigative journalist, sought to answer in 1998 when she went undercover in three different states to see how the working class was getting by. Nickel and Dimed: On Not Getting By In America, was published January, 2001 and adapted for the stage one year later. In both book and play, Barbara Ehrenreich’s own experience reveals the humiliations minimum wage workers live with just to keep a job. In both the first and third acts of the play, the audience will see workers required to work “off the clock” - meaning they’re not getting paid. In the second act, it is revealed that workers are prohibited from drinking any liquid while on the clock, even during the summer in Maine. In the third act, the audience learns Top: Photo by Gene Debs. Right: Photo by Flickr user mythologicalfairy.
8
March 9, 2017
Vol. 8, Issue 3
workers have to support all of their dependents on the kindness of customers because the employer gets away with paying them less than minimum wage. So, when faced with these mounting injustices, what is the minimum wage worker’s secret to surviving? As Barbara Ehrenreich discovers, many minimum wage workers work two jobs just to make ends meet, and that’s just to support one person. Sometimes, even that isn’t enough. In the third act, Barbara goes to a food bank to retrieve some much needed sustenance. She’s also seen talking to a social worker whose purpose is to help her find a place to live. The ‘affordable’ housing options are about a third of Barbara’s paycheck, but they’re all that is available, and her only option if she wants to get out of the hotel room she’s currently residing in. For the Warner Pacific production, one set must serve multiple locations, which leads, as Gordon said, to the world being “necessarily portrayed with minimal realism.” Quick set changes put the focus more on character development, acting, and the relationships between the characters. The cast has only six actors, all but one playing multiple roles, sometimes changing mid-scene. Because the role changes happen so quickly, it allows for little more than a hairstyle change, or a singular costume piece to be added or taken away. “Character development rests on the actors’ ability to manifest through physical, vocal, and empathic range,” Gordon said. These changes, often lightening quick, add to the fast pace of the play, which not only helps the actors keep their harried energy throughout the entirety of the three acts, but also helps the audience realize how hard the working class actually works, even past the point their bodies can handle the strain. One of Julia Feeser’s characters, Marge, is such a person. Marge is a 60 year old woman who suffers from joint pain in her ankles and knees, yet she wakes up five days a week and goes to work knowing that by the end of the day, she’ll be in more pain than she started it with. With so much text and subtext going on, what is Nickel and Dimed really about? At first glance, the play may appear to be just about the inequities minimum wage workers deal with, and to an extent it is exactly that. But throughout all of it, what makes this play such a powerful piece of work is the characters, real live people who put up with these injustices every day of their lives. “Below the many props and 37 costume changes,” Gordon said, “the audience will find humans navigating their daily circumstances to make it, get by, and even dare to dream.” Nickel and Dimed, Barbara Ehrenreich’s powerful work, makes the invisible visible. “It is even more powerful to call the one made visible by name,” said Gordon, which Nickel and Dimed does. Every character the audience spends time with has a name, a purpose, and needs of their own. The actors bring to life over 20 characters, each of them as believable as Barbara, whom we follow through all three acts. Nickel and Dimed will open Thursday, March 16th and run for four days in McGuire Theatre. The show begins at 7:30 PM on March 16th -18th, and at 2:00 PM on March 19th. General admission is $5.00. Tickets can be purchased in the bookstore prior to the show. Knight Times
About Barbara Ehrenreich By Brandon Bush According to her online autobiography, Barbara Ehrenreich was born in Butte, Montana in 1941. Her father was a miner who acquired a degree at the Butte School of Mines. She moved all over because of her father’s job: “I can hardly claim any geographical roots — except for Butte, which today is a sadly overpopulated, woefully polluted, EPA superfund site thanks to the mining companies.” When she was a teenager, her family achieved middle class status and could afford to send her Reed College in Portland, Oregon. There, she started out studying chemistry, but after a couple of years switched to physics. She went grad school at Rockefeller University and studied theoretical physics, then molecular biology, then finally settled on cell biology. When her first child was born in 1970, she went through what she calls “a political, as well as personal, transformation.” She got involved with the women’s health movement, advocating for better health care and access to health information. This led to her first “underground bestseller” called Witches, Midwives, and Nurses: A History of Women Healers. A few years after that, she decided to quit teaching at the State University of New York, Old Westbury and become a full-time writer. Working through some financial struggles in the beginning, she began to make herself known, breaking into mainstream publication by writing articles in Ms. and Mother Jones. “My work life settled into three tracks: (1) Journalism, generally essays and opinion pieces, mostly on themes related to social injustice and inequality; (2) Book-length projects on subjects, often historical, which did not make any money but fascinated me and gave my life some intellectual continuity; (3) Activism on such issues as health care, peace, women’s rights, and economic justice. I have never seen a conflict between journalism and activism. As a journalist, I search for the truth. But as a moral person, I am also obliged to do something about it.” In her bestselling book Nickel and Dimed, Ehrenreich goes undercover to see if people making seven dollars an hour can really get by in America. Going undercover, she learned the reality of how unlivable these “livable” wages were. In a 2001 audio interview, Ehrenreich described a woman she met while she was undercover: “There was this one young woman . . . who would have a small bag of Doritos . . . and that would be it for lunch. . . . She wasn’t dieting. She didn’t have any money. . . . We would stop at a convenient store for quote ‘lunch’ and people just didn’t have money in their pockets. By money, I mean, two bucks. That’s when I realized that people . . . were not eating because they couldn’t afford to. And I asked this one girl . . . ‘How do you get through a whole day without eating?’ And she said, ‘Oh, I get faint by the end of it, I feel dizzy.’ So, that’s no good.” Moments like these will be brought to life in the March 16-19 production of Nickel and Dimed in the McGuire Theater on the Warner Pacific College campus. Although this book was written in 1998, the problem of a living wage is even greater today. As stated in a New York Times review of Nickel and Dimed, “We have Barbara Ehrenreich to thank for bringing us the news of America’s working poor so clearly and directly, and conveying with it a deep moral outrage and a finely textured sense of lives as lived.”
Warner Pacific College
9
Soccer Balls and Crazy Pictures Creative Non-Fiction by Ruben Estrada Herrera
W
hen I spend time with my little cousin, I like to tell him stories. As I was looking for a great story to tell to my cousin, I find a picture of me while I was working in Champions Academy. It is a great picture of two of my mentees and me, while we were waiting for our lunch at Warner Pacific College. I show the picture to my cousin, and many wonderful memories come to my head. This picture captures the special moment when I met two
extraordinary friends, Mitch and Andy. I was nervous, sitting at a table by myself because it was my first day coaching. Suddenly, two young men came up to me asking to touch my beard. I froze for a moment; I didn’t know what to say because I wanted to maintain authority, but I also wanted be their friend. I let them touch my beard, and they were very excited. “I want to have a beard like you when I grow up,” said Mitch. I smiled. “One day you will have great beard, and you will have to let me touch it,” I said. We all laughed for a moment. Then Mitch and Andy asked me to take crazy pictures. “I don’t know what crazy pictures are,” I said, and Mitch explained it to me. After ten minutes of trying to discover crazy faces, they gave up on me, and we took this picture. This was the beginning of two extraordinary friendships and six wonderful weeks in Champions Academy. “I want to hear every single detail of you working in Champions Academy because I might do it next summer,” my cousin tells me. “What was the best moment of Champion Academy?” I tell him it is hard to choose the best moment of my time working there because every day was a remarkable adventure. My cousin looks at me and he smiles at me for a short moment. “I don’t know why,” he says, but I think it will be a great story.” I smile back at him. “Yes, but we better start now because it is a very long story.”
Ruben’s picture with Mitch and Andy before Champions Academy begins. Photo by Ruben Estrada Herrera.
10
March 9, 2017
It was the middle of June when I was selected to be a coach for Champions Academy. I was nervous because I had never coached kids in fourth grade. On my way to Warner Pacific College, I thought about what kind of coach I would like to be. I always thought that coaching is more than a job; coaching is a privilege to help young people to break their limits and achieve their dreams in life. I parked my car close in the Warner Pacific College parking lot, and I prayed to God for strength and guidance. Then I stepped out of my car and walked toward the cafeteria, where 130 kids were enjoying their breakfast. I sat down alone at a table, envisioning many possibilities of how the rest of the day could go. That’s when Mitch and Andy ran up to join me. After breakfast, I met all my “champs,” and we introduced each other. It was a wonderful experience because they liked my accent and Cuban culture. Then I stood in front of the classroom, and everyone was silent looking at me. Vol. 8, Issue 3
“Good morning Champs, my name is Coach Ruben, and it is a pleasure to be your coach for the next six weeks.” “I don’t want to be here, I want to go home, I miss my dog,” says Andy at the back of the room. At that moment I feel powerless. “Nobody talks when I’m talking” was the best response I could come up with at the time. Andy started crying. “You are a very bad coach, why would you say something like that,” my cousin says to me as he throws his pillow in my face. “Sometimes coaches have to be strict with the young people in order to create a teachable environment,” I explain to him. “What is a teachable environment?” he asks me. “A teachable environment is when people are able to teach and learn efficiently. But let go back to the story because it is late and you need to sleep soon,” I tell him.
with positive words and actions. Third, we overcome and we don’t give up.” Suddenly, I heard Andy interrupting: “ Couch Ruben, I think that you are a great coach, and I’m very excited about learning everything you will teach me,” he said. “I’m just following your second rule because you are a great coach.” I thought it was very funny because he was following the second rule, but he was breaking the first rule of no talking when I was talking. I wanted to laugh, but I couldn’t. I didn’t want to lose their attention. For thirty minutes, I taught them some soccer drills and techniques. The end of the training was a soccer game, in which many of them tried to impress me with their abilities. I was watching the soccer game when I heard “Coach Ruben, coach Ruben, coach Ruben.” When I turned around, I was surrounded by the volleyball team and their coaches throwing water balloons at me. It was very funny because I was unable to run away from them. After the game, we sat in a circle on the grass where we shared our highlights and disappointments of the day. It felt extraordinary listening to how much these kids learned and challenged themselves throughout the day. I was very proud of each of them because they taught me that discomfort and challenges are opportunities to grow and become a stronger person. After training, I was in my car ready to go home when Mitch and Andy came up to my car and knocked on my window. They looked at me and at the same time they both said “Bye Coach, see you tomorrow, you are the best.” It was an extraordinary moment because they helped me to realize that I had an immense passion about teaching young kids to achieve their dreams. I started my car and drove all the way home with big smile on my face, bigger than the one in the photo. Then I lay down on my bed to reflect on my day. I remember that my body was tired, but my spirit was fulfilled with happiness.
I always thought that coaching is more than a job; coaching is a privilege to help young people to break their limits and achieve their On our way to our first class at the dreams in life. library, I could only think about how I could make Andy feel better. “I’m sorry that you miss your home and dog, but if you give me a chance, I will show you that this is a great place, Champs,” I said as I shook his hand. After classes, we went to lunch at the cafeteria. I was sitting at the table with my Champs when Anthony Jordan came up to me. “What’s up, Ruben. How is everything going?” he asked as he shook my hand. “Everything is going great, I really enjoy spending time with my Champs and we are learning from each other” I replied. “I want to ask you something. Could you be the head coach for soccer because our head coach won’t be able to coach anymore,” he said, looking direct to my eyes. “I would love to coach the soccer team” was my response. “Thank you, I chose you because I know your passion for the sport and your extraordinary ability of adapting to new situations.” So after lunch, I went to the soccer field to prepare everything for the training. I remember that I was setting the cones for drills when I heard, “Coach Ruben, coach Ruben, coach Ruben.” I looked back and I saw thirty kids running onto the soccer field. I was scared and confused, and all of them looked up to me for instructions. At the moment, I felt the seconds become minutes and minutes became hours. I had to do something soon, so I introduced myself and the rules of the game. “I have three unbreakable rules,” I said. “First, nobody talks when I’m talking. Second, we respect and encourage each other Knight Times
“I love the story of your first day of coaching, my cousin says. “I would like to be your champs because you are a great coach.” “I’m glad that you think so, and I would love to be your coach. Now, I think you should go to sleep because it is late and you have school tomorrow.” I kiss his forehead and I turn off the light. Walking out of the room, I hear him say “Good night, coach Ruben.”
For more information about Champions Academy, please visit PDXChampions.org. Warner Pacific College
11
A WiFi-less Warner Pacific The End of the Information Age? By Prila Sloof
R
ecently, the sluggish campus WiFi has caught the attention of students and professors alike, as attempts at homework assignments and Netflix bingeing have gone awry. The sheer load of people using the same network over time has resulted in frying the system. Attempts to fix the network have only lead to more drama and heartache. Therefore, in light of the misery and with everyone’s best interest in mind, it has been decided to do away with campus-wide WiFi all together. All routers will be removed from the campus in the following weeks. Many students are outraged about this seemingly abrupt decision. “I feel like this is hard, and not fair,” exclaimed junior Emily Wintringham, “considering that I am a student and don’t have money to pay for my data plan.” Without WiFi, she is simply unable to function as a student, as most of her resources are online. “I know that colleges were founded before internet, I get that,” said athlete Joey Barreiro. “I know we’re the Knights, but we’re not in the Middle-Ages anymore. Why should we go back now?”
12
March 9, 2017
Since Wikipedia will no longer be accessible from campus, students will be challenged to use the library for a purpose other than its impressive DVD collection. Many Knights are awed at how many books can fit in the tiny space. “There are so many books that we could probably build another library out of books!” proclaimed Reada Lott. “But then we wouldn’t have any books in either library, because one would have empty shelves and the other would be made out of books.” After a moment of consideration, she suddenly has a sobering realization: “I won’t be able to access Pinterest, so never mind.” Those who work at the library are excited for the boost in library attendance this will create. Previous attempts at increasing interest for the reading facility, including “Book Awareness Day” and “Librarian Appreciation Week,” have failed to generate the hoped-for support. A lack of WiFi should do the trick. Due to the absence of internet, computers no longer seem necessary. Therefore,
all WPC desktops and laptops will be sold to generate more scholarship money. Typewriters will be implemented in their place. The 24-hour computer lab will be filled with pens, pencils, and paper instead, and turned into “The 24-hour Writer’s Block.” This will also eliminate the need for printers, which will be auctioned off at the next President’s Tea. Classroom Smartboards will be exchanged for overhead projectors. With the regression to outdated technology, the IT house will be stocked with typewriter ribbons and whiteboard markers. Finally, classrooms will be guaranteed working markers. If one good thing comes out of the WiFi removal, it will be that. The mailroom will be opening a new work-study position: Mail Squire. Squires will run messages to and from faculty offices, classrooms, and the dining hall. This medieval approach seems fitting for our school mascot theme. If not enough Squires apply, students from the Walking and Jogging class will be given the opportunity to work for extra Vol. 8, Issue 3
credit. The mailroom has yet to make up its mind whether to require uniforms. Not only does the “internet fast” have such a heavy impact on academics and campus affairs, but also on students’ social lives, especially for those who live on campus. “I can’t email my boyfriend who is in Budapest,” complained Emily Wintringham. “How else am I supposed to make plans for the summer?” The two met online last week and are progressing quite well in their relationship. Due to the internet’s immense involvement in students’ love lives, many will be gathering at a 24-hour coffee shop for “Tinder Parties.” This allows participants the opportunity to munch a piece of gluten-free vegan chocolate cake as they swipe left or right scrolling though images of potential paramours. As one such searching soul, Harmony Evens, pointed out, “Why enter into a relationship with a fellow student when there are thousands of strangers online looking for love? And the 24-hour coffee shop’s gluten-free vegan chocolate cake is to die for.” Other meet-ups at local WiFi hubs seek to bring people together in the midst of this hard time. SnapChat sessions, Instagram gatherings, and Twitter assemblies allow people to be in proximity of other people as they completely ignore one another.
A Note from the Editor: How to Spot Fake News 1. Check the author. Who is he/she? Some stories do provide “fantasy news” or satire warnings, so check the byline. 2. Read beyond the headline. If a provocative headline draws your attention, read a little further before you decide to pass along the shocking information. Even in legitimate news stories, the headline doesn’t always tell the whole story. But fake news, particularly efforts to be satirical, can include several revealing signs in the text. 3. What’s the support? Some stories mix quotes from real people with fictitious sources. Many times, bogus stories will cite official--or official sounding-sources, but once you look into it, the source doesn’t back up the claim or the source may not even exist. 4. Check the time frame referred to in the story. When did this event happen or when is it supposed to happen? A vague sense of when should be a red flag, a marker of bogusness—or sloppy research. 5. Is this some kind of joke? Normally, satire is clearly labeled as such, and sometimes it’s even funny. But not everyone gets the jokes. 6. Check your biases. Confirmation bias leads people to put more stock in information that confirms their beliefs, and discount information that doesn’t. Is there some reason why you want to believe what you are reading?? 7. Consult the experts. Yes, you are busy, and debunking takes time. But somebody needs to do this kind of work. Readers themselves remain the first line of defense against fake news. For more information, visit http://www.factcheck.org/2016/11/how-tospot-fake-news/
Next semester, there are plans to install dial-up. “I feel like we need to return to our internet roots,” explained Ian Ternet, the head of the maintenance board. He hopes that this will increase our generation’s appreciation for the 90’s. “Old-school is the best thing for our school.” He more than approves the installation of Warner’s typewriter system. In fact, most of them are from his personal collection. Change is a good thing. Hopefully, the lack of WiFi will unify and simplify the campus. Until then, enjoy it while it lasts, and have a wonderful April Fools Day! Left: Photo by Roel Wijnants. Right: The new supply of typewriters for the library from Ian Ternet’s personal collection. Photo by Janine Vangool. Knight Times
Warner Pacific College
13
Balancing Studies and Sickness How to find resources to get well
By Emily Wintringham
F
or many students, managing their health can be like a full-time job. It may not be obvious, but there are many students on campus who are lost in terms of where to go and what health care they can receive.
When asked what health care services the college can offer, Dean of Students Jon Sampson explained the transitions going on in Student Life. “We had at various times a school nurse, or someone who performed multiple roles and part of that was serving as a nurse,” he said. The campus hasn’t had a nurse in a number of years. But now, as Sampson re-evaluates campus needs, Warner Pacific College stands in a unique spot to offer services that are more adaptive than conventional oncampus medical centers. Due to the smaller student to faculty/staff ratio, there can be more dialogue and new focused pathways for students to access the right health care. Sampson is looking at some networking possibilities to make connecting to better health care easier. Perhaps asking the right questions is a good starting point.
Searching for a diagnoses What good is access to a quality education when we’re too sick to really utilize it? Academic deadlines require a consistent diligence that can cause students to put off their health issues, despite chronic pain. For Alexxis Childers, waiting for proper treatment is not something she can easily risk. Childers is a freshman at Warner Pacific and is studying early childhood development. In addition to her studies, she fronts a women’s Bible study on campus, The Crowning. Despite being a very active in ministry and a hardworking student, Childers is faced with recurring trials regarding her health. “My health has made studying really difficult. I’ve been trying to stay on top of my health. Even with the stress of trying to keep in contact with professors and keeping my grades up. I’m doing the best I can,” she said. “I went to the ER like three times, along with urgent care and doctor visits for weeks. They finally discovered I had two cysts in my right ovary,” Childers Top to Bottom: Photo by Flickr users Morgan, courtney, and Thomas Anderson.
14
March 9, 2017
Vol. 8, Issue 3
said, describing her condition. “After going through that, only like a week or so later, I came down with some sort of flu bug that has made me have a fever, along with all of the other undesirable symptoms that comes along with that.” Childers’ race for treatment sounds a lot like my own experience. I am a junior transfer, and during the first semester of this year, I found myself very ill. Students and faculty asked me several times if I was high, and I had to tell them “No, I just feel like I am going to pass out.” I had no idea how I was going to get my symptoms properly evaluated. This wasn’t just a normal “go in, get antibiotics, get rest and plenty of liquids” procedure. In fact, these symptoms are re-occurring ones, typically plaguing me every so often. About three to four times a year, I experience a type of nerve situation where I feel as if there are paint-balls in my head that burst and then they make my entire face tingle. It is accompanied with extreme fatigue and abdominal pain. I knew I couldn’t put this off. However, I found myself running in circles trying to find the right clinic to go to. I didn’t want to go to the emergency room, as I would be waiting the whole day. The county clinic was two hours away and only had nurse practitioners, who deal with routine checkups, labs, and vaccines.
Seeking a referral So how can I find the right doctor? I decided I was too tired to contemplate all this, so I sought help from Kimberly Love, Retention and Student Success Manager. She works with students and helps them get the resources they need to continue their education. It also helps that she has a background as a nurse. Love inquired about my symptoms and got an idea of what type of insurance I have. She then found me a number to call an internal medicine doctor, the kind with experience dealing with serious issues like mine. I called the doctor, only to find she wasn’t taking in any new patients. After continuing my arduous journey, I finally got a diagnosis. It didn’t cover all my symptoms, but I’m guessing not being able to eat or swallow your own spit without severe pain in your chest qualifies for at least a GERD diagnoses. Prilosec, a medication used to heal the stomach from acid damage did help, but I still needed more evaluation. Unfortunately, because of my type of coverage, no one outside my primary care “team” can diagnose me, thus making the connection for a proper referral tricky. I also found out that a referral can depend on what you say; sometimes “pain” isn’t a word you should use to describe your symptoms. I experienced a phenomenon referred to in the medical community as “Yentl Syndrome.” (Yentl is a traditional Yiddish-Jewish name, and yenta is a Yiddish word meaning a GosKnight Times
sip.) In medical use, it is used to describe someone exaggerating their symptoms. According to a study reported in The Atlantic, “Women are more likely to be treated less aggressively in their initial encounters with the health-care system until they ‘prove that they are as sick as male patients.’” I checked around, and found this to be backed up by many sources, including The National Center for Biotechnology Information.
Hitching a ride How do I get to the doctor? Sometimes, just getting to a care facility is the most urgent of all hurdles. “I haven’t been getting a lot of help with my medical issues,” Childers told me. “There have been days when although I have my own car, I was too sick to drive, and I needed a way to get to the doctor or ER and I couldn’t find one.” The week I was diagnosed with GERD, I had to ask around for a ride myself. I couldn’t eat, and I didn’t want to wait any longer until it was an emergency. I asked around, talking to close friends who owned a car. One friend said to check with Nicki Greer in the Admissions Office. I wobbled up the stairs by the Tabor Grind, and asked Nicki if there was anyone who could give me a ride. “I can,” she said. “It’s my lunch break, so I would be out of the office anyway.” In one sense, this is amazing. People at Warner Pacific care, and they do what they can. On the flip side, it’s terrible that they have to use what little free time they have to drive sick students to the emergency room. Other students needing a ride may not get as lucky as I did. Freshman Celeste Jackson explained what could have helped her in a dire situation. “I get tonsillitis very easily, and more intensely than other people, and I get to the point where my throat closes up and I can’t breathe,” Jackson said. “Earlier in September, it affected me, and I had no transportation resource on campus, so my only option was to bike to the emergency room.” If Jackson was able to get a ride, she would have not had to push herself in pain. Calling a Resident Assistant might be one option, but what about on-line assessment that might lessen the need for transportation? Perhaps being able to skype a doctor and get immediate medication or treatment might help. Now that technology is evolving, it’s time to get creative.
People at Warner Pacific care, and they do what they can. On the flip side, it’s terrible that they have to use what little free time they have to drive sick students to the emergency room.
Warner Pacific College
15
Accessing insurance coverage Do you know what your health insurance does and doesn’t cover? I asked Kimberly Love how many students she thought were knowledgeable about their coverage. “I think there’s a lot of information that they’re lacking about what their insurance covers and what they have to pay for,” she said. Love said that how she would direct a student depends on a number of factors. For example, if their parents have insurance, checking to see if the student is covered there would be a good step. Another step would be to find out if a student is working and see if there are potential insurances through their employment. “The next thing we do is start looking if they’re an Oregon resident, and seeing whether or not we can get them on the Oregon Health Plan. That is a huge long process, so starting that process sooner rather than later is important,” she said. Love also mentioned some clinics that are open to seeing students without insurance. Calling 211 can help an individual find those locations, and Sarah Waters in the library has some information about free clinics.
to an urgent care facility or primary clinic would be best for the insurance one has. Asking these questions and securing information during a time of homeostasis, (the normal feeling without symptoms) is crucial.
What are your health care needs? We’re all in different spots in terms of our health, but one thing we can do is work together. With the help of campus webmaster Kathy Covey, I’ve put together a poll to ask some questions and space to type in brief narratives about your health care experiences and needs. Dean of Students Jon Sampson is evaluating possible on-line connections, partnerships off campus, as well as on campus resources. The planning may also depend on what changes will be made to the Affordable Care Act. Go to The Shield or the Warner Pacific College Facebook page, or type in this link to fill out a short survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/VV75PTX. Give your input as the planning process goes forward. Photo by Flickr user Pictures of Money.
Another thing Kimberly Love stressed was for students to make sure they have what they need, such as insurance cards and identification numbers. “Part of my job is trying to make sure students have whatever resources they need to be successful, and successful doesn’t just mean succeeding academically,” she said. Love mentioned that not only was she a nurse, but she is also a consumer. She stressed the importance of asking the important questions, such as whether going
The Knight Times Layout Editor: Photo Editor: Faculty Advisor: Contributing Writers:
16
March 9, 2017
The Knight Times is a publication of The Sword, a student organization supported by ASWPC.
Deborah Landers Celeste Jackson Dr. Connie Phillips Tarale Wolffe, Ruben Estrada Herrera, Bryce White, Prila Sloof (Nadia Nelson), Emily Wintringham, Micaela Bitanga, Brandon Bush, Celeste Jackson Cover Photo: Rich Uchytil
Contact Us: knighttimes@warnerpacific.edu Warner Pacific College 2219 S.E. 68th Ave Portland, Oregon 97215
Vol. 8, Issue 3
